Coupon Counterfeiter Apprehended
News America Marketing Assists With Investigation to Catch Suspect
NEW YORK, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- News America Marketing, a subsidiary of News Corporation, applauds the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. District Attorney's Office for their work in apprehending the man accused of masterminding one of the largest incidents of institutional coupon fraud in the United States. Lucas Henderson, 22, of Lubbock, Texas, will face federal felony charges of wire fraud and trafficking in counterfeit goods and potential prison time of up to 30 years for the two charges combined. News America contacted the FBI in early 2010 when some of its clients began noticing unusual redemption patterns emerging.
"The FBI executed a swift and thorough investigation and we are gratified that the accused will now be facing justice. Coupon fraud is not a victimless crime and we take it seriously in all its permutations, whether counterfeiting, the illegal acquisition of coupon inserts, or the purposeful misredemption of coupons," said Chris Mixson, President, of News America Marketing. "While the vast majority of coupon users are honest citizens simply trying to stretch their budgets further, this arrest should serve as notice to the handful of those who are doing things they shouldn't, that we will aggressively pursue any and all remedies, up to and including federal criminal prosecution, in order to bring their illicit activities to a rapid conclusion."
In addition to the criminal charges, News America intends to pursue any and all civil actions against Mr. Henderson and any other parties that are revealed to be complicit in this matter and against any other perpetrators of acts of trademark infringement or other civil violations against News America Marketing or its clients and customers.
According to Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the investigation is continuing.
News America Marketing®, a division of News Corporation, is the premier single-source provider of consumer marketing services in the U.S. and Canada. The company's product portfolio, marketed under the SmartSource® brand name, consists of the first branded free-standing insert, known as SmartSource Magazine®, various in-store marketing products, merchandising services, database marketing tools and online promotions. These products and services allow marketers to deliver a brand message millions of consumers each month via a network of 1,600+ newspapers* and over 55,000 supermarket, drug, office, mass merchandisers and dollar-store locations across the country, including Kroger, Safeway, Publix, CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Staples, Family Dollar and Dollar General*.
*As of October 2010
News America Marketing's diverse portfolio of consumer-marketing programs includes:
IN-STORE MEDIA
HOME-DELIVERED MEDIA
TRADE MARKETING
DATABASE MARKETING
MERCHANDISING SERVICES
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) had total assets as of June 30, 2010 of approximately US$54 billion and total annual revenues of approximately US$32.8 billion. News Corporation is a diversified global media company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast satellite television; integrated marketing services; newspapers and information services; book publishing; and other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and Latin America.
SOURCE News America Marketing
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